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Mandalas
are usually circular patterns with their origins in Hinduism
and Buddhism representing the universe, but recently have
become a popular subject for coloring books. In their secular
form, they still provide artists and colorists with a zen-like
calming, but can be tricky to draw due to their many fold
symmetry. Here is a book taking the mystery out of drawing
(and coloring) your own mandalas.
There are eighteen mandalas to try your hand at in here, ranging
from the simple one page to the more complex ones that take
two pages. As with all the other titles in this series, each
mandala is broken down into six or more steps with each drawing
showing a bit more added to it each time. In many of the books
the new parts are drawn in a different color, but here all
lines are in black which is just fine for this type of work.
These are not fine art pencil drawings but more diagram like,
and are all drawn in pen with the final image colored in.
There is one introductory page giving a brief description
of a mandala plus hints on their execution; the rest of the
book contains only the drawings, which speak for themselves
with no captions required. At the back is a gallery of all
the projects colored in so you can select one and turn to
the correct page. Most of the mandalas resemble abstract patterns,
but all have names showing their inspiration. Subjects include
a sun, compass, fish, shells, flowers and insects, and their
stylized representation is very appealing. This is a very
user friendly book on a subject often seen but not often explained
for those who want to draw it. A very welcome entry to the
series.
If you cannot find a good range of art materials locally,
try www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.
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